MFP stressful?

It's just a learning process. Lots of people, me included, have a few go-to fods or meals. Nothing wrong with it as long as you get sufficient protein and fats.

It takes a while. . . after I had been doing this for a number of months I really got serious about meeting my nutrient needs with food. It is like a Rubic's Cube of confusion at first. The only way to do it is to keep studying your patterns, look at the nutrients in the foods you like, and adjust accordingly.

I think we can all relate to the "Aack" feeling you get with this sometimes. Just do what you can, when you can, and don't beat yourself up over not achieving Food Diary Perfection. No one does.

I've been trying to eat better and excercise for a year, and I've had a decent plan since April of 2012, and i started on MFP in June 2012. i'm down to the last 10 lbs I want to lose this year...I've cut my carbs to the bone, and i exercise 6 days a week...I have plateaued for the last 6 weeks. This week i lost a pound, which is nice, last week I lost 1/2 pound. Fat loss has really slowed down even though my diet is cleaner than ever, and I'm doing more cardio than ever. Hopefully my body will adjust, regardless, I will keep at it. I've got to at least try. I'm 5 11 (male) and I wanna hit 199...I was probably that weight in college.

For me..prelogging would be very stress inducing. I need more freedom than that..sometimes I get spur of the moment creative in the kitchen, or we'll go out for dinner. I can make allowances for all that if I haven't locked myself into a regimen. If it works for you that's wonderful....but I would hate it.

Don't worry so much about the macros; concentrate on eating vegetables and lean meats. Eat pasta, bread, and sweets in moderation. Keep your calories under control and exercise; the weight will come off. There's plenty of time later for fine-tuning your plan if you find it necessary. The important thing is to be consistent and above all else, don't quit!

I found it too difficult and stressful to try and stay within the goals for calories fats/carbs/proteins. It was just too much for me to pay attention to and plan around. I ended up taking those 3 out of my diary so it doesn't even show. For awhile, I just tracked calories. About a week ago, I added sodium back because recently I've noticed that seems to affect me a bit. I don't actively pay attention to it, it's just there as something for me to be aware of.



I also found that while I can plan ahead for a day or two, I can't go out a full week. I have a general idea but I only log 1-2 days ahead.

The problem with dieting and making efforts to change how one eats is that one often places too many rules on him or herself. Food is something that gives us pleasure, links to our emotions and memories ("This dish brings me back to my childhood"). People tend not to realize how much rigidity they place on themselves expecting instant gratification and big results. Sadly, this is not the way it works. There are no such thing as 'naughty' foods. The only thing that can be considered 'naughty' is how you decide to shape your diet. It is very important for you to work on changing your mindset if you are going to succeed. Remember, weight loss isn't just a process of changing your body, but your mind and soul too. You have to learn a lot of new information and apply them to how you live the rest of your life.

Here's my suggestion to you concerning how you can start out:

If you are looking for foods/meals that would be considered balanced and healthy, why not try looking at your friend's diaries for examples. It can't get simpler than that, because it's right there, logged before your very eyes. It's more of a simple answer than someone being vague and telling you to "eat more fruits and veggies." Examine the meals of those who have their carbs/fats/proteins/sodium/cholesterol displayed and take after the ones who don't go over but are within reasonable range of their goals. Shoot them a few questions about the ingredients or recipes. As your friends, I'm sure they'd be happy to oblige.

Also, if you are more interested in sugar/fat intake, I would recommend you make an effort to add some diabetic friends (such as myself) and track their progress in their diaries. This group of people would be a lot more conscious towards those types of intake. If you can't find diabetic friends, simply go to Community > Groups > Search for Type I or Type II Diabetes.

When I was studying dietetics in college, one of my professors taught us the basic balanced diet, called 2-2-4-4.

Servings daily:
2 meat
2 dairy
4 vegetables
4 fruit

I could go a lot more in depth but I'll just lay this down:

.8-1.5 grams of protein per pound of total body weight or target body weight
.3-.6 grams of fat per pound of target body weight (balance out saturated/monosaturated/polyunsaturated, take fish oil)
3-6 servings of fibrous veggies
2-4 servings of fruit

The fruits/veggies will be your carbohydrate source, but after running the rest of the calculations you'll be left with some extra calories to consume. If you are diabetic/insulin-resistant then I would recommend you fill those calories in by consuming more protein and/or fat. If have no pre-existing conditions of that sort then feel free to load up on whole-gains, cereals, rice, etc. Diets are amazing and the body is highly adaptable. The beauty lies within the fluidity of choices we have, not rigidity.

My weight loss has slowed down to about 1/2 lb - 1lb a week. . I feel as if i am doing something wrong and feel like just saying the heck with logging anymore.

Well, by your ticker, you have about 16 pounds to go... so a half pound a week is pretty much what you should be aiming for. It doesn't come off as fast when you get down to the wire.

It's true. You don't set your car on cruise control when you back out of the driveway and expect to get to your destination without hitting the breaks and gas again, right? :P

Weight loss isn't linear, and definitely not static. You have to tweak a lot of things as you progress. Change it up with your workout routines, and also with your diet.

At about every 10 lbs of loss you should re-adjust your TDEE because your BMR and calorie expenditure decreases, so should your daily allowance as well. That's why it's never a good idea for starters to begin with 1200kcals/day because it leaves little room for decreasing it. Also, keep in mind that a woman who was 300lbs but now weighs 125 will have a lot less room for error, because she has a higher chance of eating closer to her maintenance calories. As to where before, the margin for error was less because the gap was greater. Now that it's tighter, a 5-10% difference in her calorie intake could make all the difference!